Dems march to celebrate Early Voting Day

Approximately 20 Jasper County Democrats marched from the VFW to the courthouse Thursday afternoon in honor of “Be the First Day,” the first day voters can cast an absentee ballot at the Jasper County Auditor’s Office.

During the march, State Rep. Dan Kelley talked about the Photo ID campaign conducted by Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz to require all Iowa voters to show a photo identification in order to vote.

“Secretary Schultz is trying to fix a problem that doesn’t exist,” Kelley said. “The law would disenfranchise 120,000 Iowa voters who don’t have a photo ID. We’ve got to do all we can to make sure our senior citizens have the ability to vote,” he added.

But Jasper County Republican Chair Adam Vandall takes exception to that opinion.

“The idea that senior citizens don’t have a photo ID is absolutely ridiculous,” Vandall said. “All Secretary Schultz is trying to do is make sure that voter fraud doesn’t occur in the state of Iowa. Point to me the 120,000 residents who don’t have photo IDs in the state of Iowa, and I will personally make sure they are registered to vote.”

Vandall said he was opposed to the idea of early voting as well, other than absentee voting for those who will not be able to vote on election day.

“Early voting is not giving the candidates enough time to get their message out, and I think it increases the chances of voter fraud.”

John Jennings can be contacted at (641) 792-3121 ext. 425 or via email at jjennings@newtondailynews.com.